Field of the Invention
The invention relates to the field of electromagnetic signal transport and distribution. More particularly, the present invention relates to systems and methods for transporting and distributing signals in radio frequency and light portions of the electromagnetic spectrum.
Discussion of the Related Art
Electromagnetic signals are commonly transported in radio frequency and infrared portions of the electromagnetic spectrum. Transport media includes metallic cables for transporting radio frequency signals and fiber optic cables for transporting optical signals such as infrared signals.
Widespread use of fiber optic cables for long haul signal transport provides orders of magnitude more bandwidth over orders of magnitude longer distances as compared with copper cables such as a twisted pair of copper wires or coaxial cable. However, unlike long haul signal transport, signal distribution systems tend to be local to users and are more likely to use lower cost copper cabling given distribution bandwidth requirements typically do not require the capacity offered by fiber optic cables.
Fiber optic transmission, receiving, and conditioning equipment also represent a significant cost hurdle as compared with required metallic cable counterparts. For example, fiber optics transmit, amplify, receive, and split equipment costs for either of dense wavelength division multiplexing (“DWDM”) equipment (e.g., 0.8 nm channel spacing) or coarse wavelength division multiplexing (“CWDM”) equipment (e.g., 20 nm channel spacing) far exceed the costs of counterpart equipment required for twisted pair and coaxial cable signals.
Converting signals from mixed transport media into a common format usable at signal end points is a problem that is multiplied by an abundance of signal sources in multiple locations which may be near signal end point (e.g., “within sight”) or far from the signal end point (e.g., kilometers/miles away).
Signal transport and distribution systems that readily accommodate geographically diverse signals carried on multiple transport media while delivering a usable signal(s) at a signal end point or multiple signal end points are rare, especially in commercial, dwelling unit, and multi-dwelling unit applications where the cost of sophisticated signal handling equipment is prohibitive.